Affordable housing program tenants and their access to public transportation and employment

Abstract

This research examines the level of access to public transportation and job resources specific to tenants residing in rental assistance program units in Harris County, TX, USA. It evaluates the share of the subsidized housing renters from public transit facilities using preset distances and the availability of jobs from the renters’ homes using the job accessibility index. Particularly, this research compares the residential outcomes of the two major rental assistance programs—Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) as a tenant-based program and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) as a project-based program—and the degree of access to public transportation facilities—light rail transit (LRT) stations and transit centers. Furthermore, it assesses spatial distributions of the assisted housing program units and jobs that are available to low-income earners. The research finds that the HCV program tenants reside in neighborhoods with greater accessibility to light rail stations and transit centers based on the network distance using the street routes and connections. It also finds that the inner-city HCV residents have a higher level of low-paying job accessibility than their LIHTC counterparts, whereas the suburban areas offer equal or less favorable job opportunities to the HCV tenants than the LIHTC counterparts.